UFC Increases Its Exposure Down Under In Multi-Channel Deal With Fox

Fox Sports is gambling on the Ultimate Fight Championship and "larger-than-life" President Dana White as a "major content provider" beyond the Olympics after signing a multi-channel deal with the mixed martial arts promoter, according to Simon Canning of THE AUSTRALIAN. White believes that greater exposure on Fox Sports channels as well as on Foxtel's FX channel "will drive interest in live events in Australia." In the first multi-channel deal of its type for the sports broadcaster, UFC, which has been confined to Fox's Fuel channel in a previous broadcast deal, will be seen on Fox Sports, Main Event pay-per-view and on Fuel. At the same time, its reality series, The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs U.K., will be seen on FX. The UFC will "continue to run pay-per-view events on Main Event," while Fox Sports will screen six live events a year, with all channels pointing back to Fuel as the home channel for UFC (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/18).